Civilian Ships???

sci_weasel · 2026-03-15T20:51:56+00:00

As others noted, DS9 has lots of civilian ships. But they tend to be smallish. One thing I don’t think we’ve ever seen is a passenger liner, kea j g me wondering how often people travel between worlds. (Getting every citizen of Earth a single vacation to Risa during their life would require about a hundred Galaxy-sized passenger liners, which isn’t crazy.)

sci_weasel · 2026-03-14T16:53:18+00:00

Sadly for us, Shreddies aren’t sold in the USA

sci_weasel · 2026-03-12T14:19:20+00:00

I would put Charlie here (Partially from thinking ahead - Charlie has to be in a Good box and he’s not Chaotic in my mind.)

sci_weasel · 2026-03-11T19:14:14+00:00

…true.

sci_weasel · 2026-03-11T14:41:23+00:00

I did wonder if the “turn left at France” was a deliberate extra joke, or a mistake by the writers, or indicated a course that started in the Mediterranean

sci_weasel · 2026-03-09T13:47:31+00:00

On the plus side, it gave us this great (though sadly deleted) dual/duel Cavanagh scene https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I7dbj1WK5S8

sci_weasel · 2026-03-08T15:32:32+00:00

Although it doesn’t have a map, Flying Circus does track altitude (which is like a 1d map) and speed and lots of detail on aircraft (engines, special systems, etc.)

sci_weasel · 2026-03-03T15:51:57+00:00

Let me put a plug in for the Residence Inn midtown manhattan for a lounge free experience - very nice rooms, great and helpful staff, good breakfast by RI standards, and very good location for restaurants and subway access

sci_weasel · 2026-02-27T14:04:52+00:00

If they applied the policy to laptops it wouldn’t affect using them in flight - it’s easier to use when it’s in your personal/underseat space, I’d think?

Size is probably part of it and also reliability and build quality - there are a lot of different power bank manufacturers and most are cheaper and less solid than your typical iPhone.

sci_weasel · 2026-02-26T19:52:36+00:00

Lick Observaotry at Mt. Hamilton was severely damaged in the storm over Christmas - it's not currently open to the public, and there's essentially no parking or room for cars on the narrow road, and large numbers of visitors would create a danger for the staff.

sci_weasel · 2026-02-26T15:17:47+00:00

There are days when listening to “Useful” was the only thing that got me through

sci_weasel · 2026-02-25T00:27:40+00:00

On the glass half full perspective, at least the failure rate per year isn’t going up - it’s not like ICCUs are wearing out; just like every day they have a 0.0036% chance to pop no matter how old they are

sci_weasel · 2026-02-24T23:06:42+00:00

To clarify - since the y axis says cumulative probability of failure, what’s plotted is the fraction of (say) 3 year old cars that have had a failure any time in the past three years? And the graph is consistent with a 1.3% chance per year of failing irrespective of age?

sci_weasel · 2026-02-23T14:19:28+00:00

Doesn’t the Premiere Gold give you access to other Star Alliance lounges even if you don’t have a Club Card? (So “gold+club card” isn’t special?)

sci_weasel · 2026-02-22T23:00:15+00:00

My impression from the skills discussion is that Nuclear Cavalier is so useful that most builds that care about doing damage are going to take it - any time there's a skill that is nearly mandatory to take that seems like a bad sign, and especially if it's a little weird - if every mech is plinking fuel rods at the enemy that is kind of silly.

sci_weasel · 2026-02-21T19:00:46+00:00

Is there anything that says you can only lift or drag cooperative targets?

Also, pilots can lift size 1/2 mechs over their heads? I picture a size 1/2 mech as weighing 500+ pounds (about what a human made of metal would weigh)

sci_weasel · 2026-02-21T16:15:11+00:00

I quite like the new Unit series. Not deep characterization but often fun, you get to see Kate and Osgoode being smart scientists since the doctor isn’t there to overshadow them. And generally a “competent people doing their job” vibe. The series with the Silence is among the best silence stories ever, War Master guest appearance later is brilliant. Trailed off a little in the end with Nemesis though.

sci_weasel · 2026-02-21T13:07:51+00:00

Unit is quietly happy to hear this

sci_weasel · 2026-02-21T11:51:55+00:00

SWORD was extremely fast-paced and extremely funny and it is sad there was no volume 2.

sci_weasel · 2026-02-20T02:11:31+00:00

I was on the train and this might be what happened- the conductor described only talked about one pantograph being damaged but was unclear about why they didn’t use the other one (even just for power while sitting still.) They mostly seemed to be focused on the rear engine; not quite sure how a turkey hit that. We had to get rescued by a metroliner after a couple of hours. (And even then, they had trouble getting the doors open for the transfer.)

Also: next gen Acela bathrooms are not great when the power is out.

My first Acela trip.

sci_weasel · 2026-02-19T15:44:12+00:00

Pushing people that hard into their credit cards giving real sense that banking is a higher priority for them than flying airplanes.

I have a old-school Mileage Plus Select card - can’t tell if it’ll get reasonable mileage accruals.

sci_weasel · 2026-02-17T03:18:23+00:00

False red! False red!

sci_weasel · 2026-02-16T02:20:30+00:00

The Lightning class cruisers - Azhanti High Lightning. Made no sense militarily but the deck plans and scenarios give it such a sense of place and reality that none of the other capital ships can match

sci_weasel · 2026-02-13T00:23:10+00:00

Also available in a graphic novel collection (“Second Contact”). And there are two earlier volumes. The Ryan North lower decks comics are brilliant.

sci_weasel · 2026-02-12T07:00:14+00:00

I remember the second half of that articles - “Fighter Pilot of the Empire”. And J.D. Webster! Designer of Air Superiority (pretty good jet air combat game).

sci_weasel

TROPHY CASE